Everybody can love
by spata147
Summary: Many years ago, the vampire Yami fell in love with a human, who was killed however by another vampire. Now Yami has a second chance at love, but someone seems determined to split them up again yet again, and to kill both Yami and his lover. Yaoi. Summary
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-gi-oh or any mythology references in this story.

This chapter has been revised

The vampire is truly an amazing creature. With a humanlike shape, but animal-like features, renders it the most dangerous species on the planet. A vampire's wings gave it the ability of flight, as well as another weapon. With a well-aimed blow, a vampire wing could easily break a human or another animal's skull.

A vampire also had the power of adapting. Vampires sometimes evolve to fit the territory of which they're best suited for. For instance, a city vampire would have his wings folded or nonexistent, erasing any hints of mortal suspicion.

With a vampire was also the gift of immortality. A vampire would not die of age, but remain in the world until it was killed, by a being or not. Even then, unless killed properly, a vampire would just rematerialize once more, fit to continue its reign of terror.

Superhuman reflexes and strength also aided the vampire, making any vampire a skilled fighter to be reckoned with. Many different powers are also given to specific vampires, making each more deadly than normal vampires. An opposing enemy also had to be wary of the vampire's teeth, which could at any time strike, effectively dispatching the vampire's enemy.

Weaknesses are few among vampires, most being only vulnerable to stakes, sunlight, holy water, silver, and garlic. Fire afflicted some vampires, but not many. Some few mighty vampires of old were known to have no weaknesses at all, and could not be killed in any fashion.

But with a vampire also came the vampire's curse. A vampire, with the power of immortality, would be forced to consume fresh blood to survive. Even the vampire's mind refused to drink blood, the instinct would compel the vampire to drink the blood, until it finally did. This caused the huge majority of vampires to turn to evil. Bloodlust was another curse that afflicted the vampire. Sometimes bloodlust would strike a vampire, causing it to go upon a rampage of blood, killing and consuming any human in its wake.

The vampire saga first began in the ancient world of Atlantis, where its prince, a handsome man by the name of Dartz, was granted a mystical item. A great crafter of demons bequeathed the mighty and powerful object, The Millennium Puzzle, to the Atlantean sorcerer. As a result, the Atlantean gained power beyond his imagination, but however was also inflicted with the first vampire curse. That foul curse stained the Earth henceforth, and began to inflict many humans across the globe. So the vampire brood spread out across the four corners of the world, become many and strong. In 1484 AD of the humans however, Dartz disappeared after many a millennia of power as "lord of all vampires".

So his apprentice Pegasus, or Dracula, was chosen to succeed him, but he was seemingly destroyed soon afterwards by the ancient vampire hunter Van Helsing, whose hidden descendants live among us even today.

Vampires then started fighting for power, each wanting the title of the "king of the vampires." This creature had formerly been one well-connected species, but many a battle tore it apart. In 1567 AD of the humans, a fight between the two most powerful vampires of the time occurred. The former Dracula's strongest chief lieutenants, the Egyptian "nameless vampire" and his rival, Yami, changed the course of the vampire forever.........

Twin vampires eyed each other, a blood red glint in each one's eyes. Their shadows silhouetted shades of devastation and ruin, mangled human and vampire bodies lay everywhere. Fire burst forth everywhere around the two fighters; even amid the torrential downpour.

"You killed him............. You killed him.......... You had to kill him," one of the fighters, a tri-colored haired vampire, shouted with intense hatred.

"Heh; and I thought I did a good job of it. You didn't like it?" the other larger vampire replied, chuckling all the while.

"Why did you kill him? What did he ever do you?" the tri-colored haired vampire roared. Wind gusted back and forth across the rampaged battlefield, even more violently than before. Lightning cracked down upon the ground, emitting shower of sparks that danced about the two fighters.

"I only did what was to come to him eventually, turn him into a vampire. That's what you planned to do to him later, wasn't it? A vampire can never love, Yami, they can only deceive and harm to obtain their goal, that is their very nature."

The tri-colored haired vampire took a step toward the other, fists clenched. "I was never going to turn him into a vampire. He didn't want to, and I respected his wishes. And vampires have hearts as well do they not? Why couldn't I truly love him?"

"Because the vampire is a foul and evil creature, what they were meant to be and become. When a vampire experiences love, it is only a sign of lust and desire that needs to be adhered to." The other vampire smiled. "Besides, that was quite some blood the human had, very refreshing, I might add."

"You monster."

"I may be, but we are the same kind of monsters aren't we?" asked the larger vampire. "I mean, with your two other friends, what were their names, Bakura and Seto, you killed off my entire guard, ruthlessly I might add, got past every single one of my defenses, right to myself. It's a shame those two won't be able to help you. Ryuuji will make sure of that, not even their combined strength will they be able to take on a werewolf of old.

This is quite humorous from my perspective, Yami. A true vampire should never meddle their hearts with the likes of humans. It matters not, you can't defeat me Yami; I can't be killed, a talent that Lucifer, king of demons, granted me when I was created."

Yami sheathed two daggers with embroidered golden tips and licked the gleaming silver metal. "I guess it's time to put that theory to the test. This is for you, my love." With those words, Yami made a death-charge towards the other vampire. His opponent easily dodged Yami's attacks, laughing all the while, infuriating Yami even more.

"Yami, Yami, Yami..... You can't beat me. I was always the better vampire fighter. " The larger vampire delivered a sharp kick to Yami's abdomen, then another and another. Dark red fluid began to spurt from Yami's mouth, his body beginning to feel the repercussions of the blows.

Yami made a futile attempt to punch his opponent back, but his fist was easily caught by the vampire, who twisted it harshly. Yami yelled in pain while the sounds of breaking bones accompanied it. With a mighty punch, his enemy sent him sprawling, Yami's body doubled up in pain upon the ground.

"Now you die; goodbye forever, Yami." The vampire's hands started glowing bright white, energy flowing through the vampire's body. Yami struggled back up, but his face was contorted into a slight smile.

"You're right, but you're wrong as well. You're right in the sense that I can't kill you, but you're wrong in the sense that I can't defeat you." Yami's hands started materializing a bright golden object, causing his opponent to stagger back and stare nervously.

"So the rumors were right. Dartz's final creation, The Puzzle has been found, by you no less. So you're planning to use The Puzzle, with all its enigmas and hidden secrets, to defeat me. You are aware that the Puzzle's power affects everybody in its range, which includes you as well. But how can you even do that? You cannot control it."

"But could the prophecy actually be about Yami?" thought the other vampire hesitantly.

'Into the twilight there was made, the item of darkness. Many have tried and will, but only one shall succeed, in obtaining the accursed gift. It shall be a blessing, yet also a curse, due to haunt or protect him. Though he will fail it, he will eventually arise to reclaim it once more. During those evil times, it will pass to many, but all will fail to control it. For within this power is true darkness himself, a might of which only another darkness can contain.'

Phygias Van Helsing, descendant of Abraham Van Helsing, vampire hunter and philosopher. 1524 AD

Yami managed to make a grin. "That's what you think." Yami plunged his life force into the golden object, and then threw it between them.......................

Nothing happened, causing Yami's opponent to start laughing hysterically. "Well you had me worried for a second, I thought you actually............."

His laughter cut short as he suddenly realized powerful energies emitting from The Puzzle. "Oh Shit."

A small vortex appeared from the tip of the puzzle, becoming larger and gathering in strength as the seconds passed. Yami's opponent immediately put up a force field to block the gusts, but to no avail. With a mighty crack of sparks, the winds tore right through the field, snatching the vampire right into the swirling gusts of the vortex. "Damn you, Yami!"

Yami did not listen or care, even as the winds picked up his torn and bleeding body up and towards the vortex. "So, this is how it ends. I'm glad I knew you, love, though I never got to express my true feelings, I never even got to tell you the truth. I hope we see each other again someday.........................................."

The Puzzle burst in a mighty explosion of light, its many pieces filling up the sky. The clouds started to dissipate, exposing the warm sunlight upon the region. Skeletons and abandoned ruins started to disappear from the dazing brightness of the sun, leaving no trace of what had previously occurred. Life began to be restored to the place, its previous battle entirely forgotten.

There was no sign of either vampire for many hundreds of years.

This is just a short prologue; of course this isn't the ending. Will Yami and his mysterious lover meet up again? Anyways, please review.


	2. Meeting Together

(Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-gi-oh, or any mythology in this story.)

Changes have been made to this story.

"Yugi, time for dinner." Sugoroku Motou opened the door to Yugi's room, only to find his grandson bent over his desk, obsessing over a pile of small golden puzzle pieces. Sugoroku stifled an urge to laugh. His grandson had been literally attached to the item ever since he had given it to Yugi after Sugoroku had found it in a digging site in Romania.

"Yugi, you've already spent six hours today on the thing. I think it's time for you to eat something." Sugoroku sighed; Yugi did not have much to do besides trying to solve the puzzle actually, only one other kid his age, a nice boy by the name of Ryou, dwelt at this Romanian dig. Unfortunately Ryou meanwhile was at a campsite further northward, leaving Yugi with no one to confide with.

"Yeh, sure. Just a few more minutes, Grandpa. I think I've almost finished with the puzzle." Sugoroku sighed again, nodded, and left the room. He then went to his rocking chair, and started reflecting; wondering what was in store for his young grandson.

Yugi was quite small for his age, but nonetheless brave in spirit. Sugoroku believed however Yugi was too superstitious, as he believed that if Yugi managed to solve the riddle of the puzzle, he would unlock something vast and powerful. Heck, these crazy folklore and legends had even affected the leader of the dig. He had even hired two bodyguards who were "trained" in fighting those imaginary blasted creatures, named Jounouchi and Malik. Though Sugoroku had nothing against the pair, he believed they had no reason to be around the campsite. No one but old fogeys should actually believe in those old folklore.

They did have a special fondness for Yugi however, playing Duel Monsters or sports with him every time they got the chance. Yugi was like that, his kindness and generosity made it so easy for him to make friends. How could you resist those amethyst eyes?

Besides his sweet and loving personality, Yugi was also multi-talented. He possessed an extremely sharp wit, as well as fast reflexes. Yugi had experience as well with weaponry, he was well-versed in the art of guns and swords. You probably wouldn't expect that from a five-foot-and-a-half kid, minus the hair. When in his fighting mood, Yugi erased every sweet and loving motion from his movements and became mister tough-guy.

Currently both of them were in the deepest regions of Romania, on an archeological dig. The leader of the dig, a young man, by the name of Honda, had wanted them to explore the region, taking note of any artifacts that could be found. Why did he have to be in this region? He could've been in Egypt studying hieroglyphics and traveling among pyramids, along with the rest of his colleagues................. Wait a minute, Yugi still hadn't eaten dinner. At least Yugi's almost finished the puzzle, I'll be glad when all the nonsense is over with.

Sugoroku got up, and started walking again slowly toward their trailer. Opening Yugi's door, Sugoroku was met by a shout of "Yes, I finished it!"

Yugi was dancing around, holding a complete puzzle up in the air............. totally oblivious to the fact that the puzzle was turning a darker color, and mists were starting to emit from it. In instinct, Sugoroku grabbed Yugi, and ran out the trailer door. As Sugoroku jumped upon the ground, an explosion rocketed the trailer, shattering windows and objects alike. Fire spewed forth from the windows, burning several plants on the windowsill to a crisp.

Any mystical being within a thousand miles felt the sudden surge of energy come from the puzzle, whether it was the grizzled, white-haired vampire along the Grecian coast, the cobalt-eyed vampire with a freezing personality in nearby Bulgaria, to the clan of vampires who lived near the campsite. Many vampires recognized those energies, instilling fear into their hearts. If Yugi or Sugoroku had looked up, they would have seen two dark shadow-like mists coming out of the trailer, and then dispersing in the air. Sugoroku laid upon the ground, dazed, while Yugi jumped back onto his feet.

Yugi slowly crept to a window, and looked inside his bedroom. Inside........ was the puzzle perfectly intact, not a bit of damage had been done to it. The item's golden radiance glimmered against Yugi's bright eyes; it had not been harmed to the least bit. Yugi's room unfortunately was not nearly in the same shape as the object it contained. The walls had been burnt to splinters; the ceiling was blown off its foundations, as well as most of the floor. Shards of glass were everywhere; raging fires started burning away at the trailer interior.

Running towards the distraught pair was several of their fellow archeologists, come to investigate the explosion. "What happened here?" Honda inquired. "Yugi, Sugoroku, are you okay?"

Sugoroku was furious. "Do you know how much this is going to cost me in insurance costs? Yugi, you just blew up our trailer! Now that........" A wailing shriek rang through the air, causing Sugoroku to stop his monologue and look up. Five humanlike figures in the air were flying straight toward the campsite.

Honda's face turned white. "Take cover! Vampires!" Archeologists fled which and every way, some seeking shelter, weapons, or just plain anywhere to hide. The screeches grew in intensity as the creatures neared.

Yugi ran to a storage box, opening it and started sorting through assorted weaponry. "Vampires, what weapons kill vampires." Yugi muttered softly, while taking out two automatic handguns and tossing a rifle to Sugoroku. "Hope these vampires like eating silver."

"Take them down! Now! Fire!" yelled Honda. Bullets ripped through the air towards the incoming creatures. Several vampires dove right towards the spray of bullets, engaging the humans in combat.

Jounouchi and Malik were rushing to the main campsite, all the while hearing the deafening shrieks of the vampires. "Now, whose idea was it to go swimming? We could be fighting vamps by now, instead of running toward said vamps," Malik snarled.

"Well at least the vampires have no sense at all of common ambush, so we don't have to look for them," Jounouchi countered. "Besides, who knew that you looked so good naked.

Malik blushed madly and got ready to throttle his friend, but suddenly stopped right in his tracks. "Umm.. Jou. Rethink that first thought." Two vampires had flown down right before the two warriors, looking quite dangerous and deadly.

"Damn this." Jounouchi took out a pistol and fired it, causing a billowing flame of fire toward the vampires. One of the vampires immediately shape-shifted into a giant wolf; while the other took flight. Jou's attack went harmlessly past the two vampires.

Malik, wielding two wooden stakes, charged the wolf, whom then morphed back into a normal vampire. "You know. That's really disgusting when you do that," Malik commented. Jou meanwhile took out a silver dagger, while fingering something in his pocket.

The airborne vampire flew toward Jou, its fangs dripping with anticipation as it gazed upon Jounouchi's slender neck. Jou tossed the dagger at the incomer, which the vampire easily dodged, and kept on nearing. As the vampire came close, Jou loaded the capsule into his firearm, and took a precise shot. The vampire halted as the bullet came whizzing toward him. As the capsule made contact with the vampire, the vampire started, in effect, to literally sizzle. Jou watched as the vampire started melting away, eventually into liquid and nothingness.

"Jou, what was that capsule-thing," Malik yelled while shooting off rounds with a semiautomatic machine gun at a full-fledged fang-bearing grizzly bear. "That capsule was a mixture of fire, melted silver, garlic, and holy water. Everything a vampire hates and dislikes, packaged into one handy weapon. Oh yeah, do you need help Malik?"

"I..... Don't....... Need.......... Your......... Help.......... Die.... You........... Piece.......... Of......... Vampire.......... Shit.........." Malik charged after the grizzly bear, with a sword upraised, screaming a battle cry.

Jou shrugged his shoulders, "Suit yourself. You really need to start accepting help when you need it someday Malik."

While fighting the shape-shifting vampire, Malik never saw Jou's body suddenly fall down limp, and disappear.

Yugi inserted a silver bullet into his pistol, and fired. The bullet passed right a vampire's head, causing it to fall down like a rock. "This is easier than I thought," Yugi smiled to himself as he reloaded. "What the........"

Another vampire swooped past Yugi, its fangs narrowly missing Yugi's neck. Its swoop however had knocked Yugi's guns away from him. The vampire then dismounted, sheathed its wings, and faced the small teen. "So, you want to go old-school then?" Yugi crouched into fighting position, "I can handle that."

The vampire rushed Yugi, who kicked up a bunch of dirt at a surprised vampire. The vampire cleared its eyes and looked around, bewildered. A punch at the back of his head caused the vampire to stutter forward slightly, but then quickly regained balance. "Great, these guys aren't easy when it comes to hand-to-hand combat, are they?" Yugi grumbled. As the tri-colored haired teen attacked the vampire, each of his punches and kicks were easily blocked. Yugi, seeing that he could not defeat the creature, started to rush away.

The vampire ran forward after him, its fangs bared. To the vampire, it seemed that Yugi was running away. The vampire smiled, licked his teeth, and let out a devastating swoop toward the small tri-colored haired boy. It just didn't notice what Yugi was running towards, two handguns on the ground.

But before Yugi could reach the weapons, a foot stepped upon them. The vampire, whom Yugi had shot through the head earlier, had come before Yugi, blocking his means of winning the fight. The hole within the vampire's skull still was there, blood and pieces of tissue still slowly exiting the wound. The vampire let out a growl, and threw a twisted dagger, impaling it upon Yugi's left leg. The boy immediately dropped onto the ground, emitting a cry of pain.

Yugi looked around helplessly, a slight trace of fear in his eyes. Both vampires' fangs grew longer, anticipating a meal. Sugoroku desperately tried to fight his way towards his grandson, but was knocked away by another vampire.

The vampires started approaching Yugi, who started trembling violently. As Yugi turned to face one of the vampires, the other suddenly flew towards Yugi at light speed, its teeth aimed directly at the soft artery upon the neck. Yugi snapped his eyes shut, ready for the end.................

A fireball consumed the attacking vampire, knocking Yugi to the ground, and causing both Yugi and the other vampire to gape. The remaining vampire took flight at an instant, hoping to outrun the powerful new entity. Before Yugi's eyes, a man suddenly jumped in front of the sprawled Yugi and tossed a silver stake right at the retreating vampire, five hundred feet away in the air. It connected directly with the vampire's heart, killing it instantly. The vampire's body fell, a look of pure shock still upon its ugly face.

As the smoke cleared, the man turned behind to face Yugi, who was flabbergasted. For one, his rescuer looked almost exactly like himself, and two, he rescuer looked dead-sexy. Yugi couldn't keep his face from not turning bright crimson as Yugi's savior then knelt down and began to dress Yugi's wounds. To Yugi's amazement, this new person managed to pry the dagger from his leg, and Yugi felt no pain at all. "Are you okay, young one?"

"Th...Thankkk y..you, I...I'm F....fine..., Yugi managed to stutter quite embarrassingly. "W...Who are you?"

"My name is Yami, what may your name be?" asked Yami politely.

"I....I'm Yugi M...Motou." Yugi's heart swooned at the mere mention of Yami's name. Nor could Yugi think straight, all his thoughts were directed towards his rescuer.

"You have a lovely name, Yugi."

Yugi's face turned an even more brilliant shade of red, and his body started shaking uncontrollably. "Thankkk..Thankkkks, Ya... Yamii. But.. How did you do that...., you know killing those vampiresss....... I've never seen anyone that adept at fighting..... Are you some sort of god or something like that........ Y... You look like one." Yugi cursed himself for making such an embarrassing comment.

Yami smiled at Yugi's comment, but then frowned ever so slightly, his mind desperately trying to formulate some good excuse. "I'm a vampire hunter, it is what I do. I'm sorry about your caravan being attacked. If I had noticed earlier, I could've helped you before you were nearly killed. I'm sorry."

Yugi's face fell slightly, but he managed to respond. "I..It's okay Yami, t...things like this happen, i....it's not your fault. I....I owe you my life. Thank you."

Yami smiled back. "You're welcome, Yugi Motou." An image flickered suddenly into Yami's mind, a familiar someone was near. "Yugi, would you mind if I left you for a moment, I have to track down any vampires left."

(If you can't tell, Yami's lying AGAIN.)

As Yugi nodded and wobbled away, Yami grumbled to himself. "Man that was a close one. A vampire slayer? Talk about major extreme irony. At least it worked; I can't let him find out who I really am. Now, Seto. I just felt your presence just moments ago, now where are you?" Yami looked around, seeing no one; so Yami's dark wings sprouted up out of his back as Yami began to take flight.

As Yami started flying away, among the dark reaches of the cliffs nearby, a figure stood watching him. Then, with a sweep of the figure's cloak, he was gone, leaving an ominous fate lingering upon the surrounding region.

Man, even with revision I can't make it the way I want it to be. Anyways please review. PLZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.


	3. Foreseeing

Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh, or any mythology in this story.

Yami's crimson eyes gazed everywhere, searching for his old friend. It was bad enough that Yami had to search for Seto in the forest. Unfortunately, Seto was skilled as well at the art of eluding and hiding; Seto's vampire body exuded a natural aura that confused trackers and pursuers of him. But even if an enemy did find him, Seto had the skill and strength to pound nearly any vampire into the ground.

"Great, I've lost sense of him," Yami griped. "That's it; let's just have him come to me instead."

Yami let out a small burst of energy from his body, tiny enough to not be noticed by mortals, but large enough to attract the attention of his old companion if he was in the area. Yami looked around, still seeing no one, and after waiting a few minutes, began to tap his foot impatiently.

"Damn you Kaiba, you just have to make it hard for me."

"Well, if you turn around, I believe you'll find the person you're looking for, 'old friend'."

Yami suddenly whipped around and aimed a punch right at Seto's nose. Seto quickly caught Yami's fist, but his face grimaced at the impact.

"You still have the old strength, don't you Yami. Should've known. Even trapped within an item the size of a tissue box you still managed to keep your power," Seto remarked. "Well I guess this is a nice and civil reunion for us. You trying to kill me where I stand."

Yami angrily threw down his fist, but then Yami suddenly jumped and started hugging his longtime friend. "I've missed you so much, Seto........"

Seto nodded and embraced him back. "I missed you too, Yami.... Yami, come with me to eat dinner, I need to talk with you. I don't think it's that safe, a dark power seems to overshadow this place."

Yami agreed and started following Seto.

"What have you been up to Seto, all these years and all while I've been gone," asked Yami.

"Well, not much really. After you and "him" both got sealed within The Puzzle, and the aura surrounding the area you fought prevented us from retrieving The Puzzle, I and Bakura haven't been doing much lately. Bakura in the early times traveled everywhere as a mercenary, but eventually settled down as a fisherman in Greece."

Yami started laughing hysterically, and Seto smiled as well. "I know; I never let Bakura live that down. Anyways for me I've just been roaming around Europe, not doing a great deal of anything. Don't worry you'll see Bakura soon. I told him where you are, but it'll take him a few days to get here, he doesn't know apparition."

"What are these new weapons I see, Seto? They don't look like anything I've ever seen before."

"What, you don't think technology has gone anywhere for well over four-hundred years? Yami, steel towers live in Western cities, a single weapon now can destroy over a hundred square miles of land. Luckily anti-vampire weapons haven't gone very far, you only have to watch for the silver weapons. Wait a minute, you aren't affected by silver are you? Never mind. But there is something you need worry about."

(Certain powerful vampires may be exempt from certain weaknesses, and are unaffected by items which might kill a normal vampire.)

Yami grimaced, "What?"

"I sensed something along with your life force escaping from The Puzzle, I did not what it was, but I've a feeling it is "him"."

Yami's heart skipped a beat. "Are you positive?"

"Not really. But keep an eye open always; we cannot take any chances with that vampire. Ahh, here's the cave. Dinner's ready if you don't mind. You can take the first bite if you want to."

Yami frowned as he entered the cave, "What are you talking about, Seto?"

Seto smiled. "I captured this human boy a little south of here. Looks quite delicious doesn't he? Well, come on, I'm offering you the first bite."

Yami looked around uncomfortably.

Malik lightly kicked the dead vampire's body, two stakes embedded within the vampire's heart. "There, that takes of that one," Malik spoke softly. "Wait a minute, where's Jou?"

Malik looked everywhere, but saw no Jounouchi. He wasn't where he was the last time Malik saw him, or everywhere else in eyesight range of Malik. "Damn, where could he have gone?"

Malik walked around a bit, and paused at a few burns marks upon the ground. Malik picked some ashes, and started to examine them. "These aren't fire ashes, these are ashes from magic use. That's it. Apparition. A vampire must have knocked Jou out and apparated both of them out of the area."

(Apparition is a type of magical transporting; a magical being could suddenly disappear, and then suddenly appear in an entirely different region.)

Malik sniffed the air, and looked north. "That's the way that vampire shit took Jounouchi."

The blond-haired vampire slayer began to quickly gather his weapons again, "Let's hunt some vampire."

With all the weapons that Malik could carry, he started running north as fast as he could. Toward the cave which held his friend, as well as two powerful vampires.

Honda surveyed the damage before him. His entire camp had been decimated by the vampire attack. Seven archeologists lay dead upon the ground, the blood sucked entirely out of their bodies.

Four vampire bodies also lay unmoving in the camp, but Honda heeded no concern to them. Sugoroku, massaging a swollen welt upon his head, walked up to the camp leader. "Honda, what do we do now. We can't stay here, that's much for certain, the remaining vampires will in all probability return."

Honda agreed. "Sugoroku, gather up you remaining possessions. Notify everybody else remaining here, we flee to the protection of the village castle of Averon. We need to get out of this place quickly."

Sugoroku nodded his head, and turned to see Yugi wobbling toward him. Yugi's grandpa immediately ran toward Yugi, and embraced him warmly. "Yugi, you're alive, I thought I lost you."

Yugi managed an awkward smile, causing Sugoroku to wonder what the matter with Yugi was. Wait a minute, had Yugi actually been bitten by a vampire? No, wait a minute. Yugi's blushed face, his sweating body, his unsteady walk, all pointed the fact that Yugi was in........

Sugoroku grinned broadly at Yugi. "Okay, Yugi, spit it out. What's the deal, who did you meet?"

Yugi froze. "Well.............................."

Yami looked at Seto and shook his head. "Sorry, I just can't drink blood anymore, at least not now.

Seto stared at Yami as if he was crazy. "What are you talking about Yami, clearly being in that puzzle for so long has clearly slowed you mind. You NEED blood to survive, you know that as well as I do."

Yami was still fidgeting hesitantly. "I.... I just can't."

Seto growled. "Yami, drink up or soon your body will force you to drink."

Yami stared at Seto, and then at Jounouchi. His mind clearly did not want to drink and kill the blond haired boy, but his body needed it. Yami closed his eyes, his mind desperately fighting his body's instincts. Yami knew he was one of the powerful vampires in the world, why couldn't he be able to control his impulses?

Jounouchi's neck looked like a paradise to Yami, causing him to salivate slightly. To Yami's body, Jounouchi's blood was a meal four-hundred years overdue, and bit by bit was slowly overpowering Yami's mind. Yami's eyes turned slightly more crimson, and he slowly started walking toward the body.

Yami's fangs started to grow, reaching its long length of three inches. Yami then positioned himself for the plunge, his fangs tensing up for the intake of blood. His fangs lifted up to strike.......................

A silver-tinted spear suddenly hurled towards Yami, causing Yami to turn and angrily deflect the weapon. But as Yami saw his opponent; both he and Seto jumped in amazement, each backing up.

But then Seto peered closely at the attacking figure. "Calm down Yami, it isn't "him"; it's just a normal human boy who looks like him. See? His hair is much more docile, not wild. Also, look at his eyes. It isn't half as narrowed as our adversary, it isn't "him".

Yami breathed a sigh of relief, but was met by Malik charging with two silver stakes in his hand. Yami leapt into the air, and Malik countered by throwing up his two weapons at the vampire.

Malik's eyes widened when Yami easily caught the two weapons in his hands and threw them back at him. The two stakes hit Malik's sides, pinning him to the cave wall. Seto grinned and started walking towards the pinned warrior. Malik acted as if he was defeated, but as Seto approached Malik lifted up his major hidden weapon, the Cross of Crucifix, right up to Seto's face.

(The Cross of Crucifix is the likeness of a cross with Christ upon it. Any vampire had either voluntary or not, a magical pact with The Demon, causing most normal vampires to wither before the magical power bestowed upon the object.)

Seto's pupils enlarged, but with a mighty sweep of his hand disabled it, knocking it away from Malik's hand. Malik's jaw dropped open, his head starting to swirl in fear. Seto leaned over to Malik's smooth and silky neck, ready to take a bite.

"Yami, where are you? Yami?" Yami stood up suddenly, recognizing the voice. Yugi. Yami, immediately telepathically told Seto, as much as he could about who the approaching boy was.

Seto nodded quickly and then proceeded to knock out Malik with a punch, unpin him from the wall, and pretended to tend to him, all the while wiping his memory clean of the incident. Yami meanwhile emerged from the cave entrance.

Yugi immediately seeing Yami ran a breakneck speed toward him, and when reaching him hugged him as he could. "I missed you so much Yamiiiii. I thought you were in trouble or in danger."

Yami hugged him back, and gestured Yugi toward the cave interior. Yugi, upon seeing Malik and Jounouchi unconscious, rushed to their sides. "What happened to them, Yami? What happened?"

"I found their fainted bodies somewhere around here, they seemed to be hurt, so me and Seto over there were just tending to them when you arrived," Yami responded. "Seto's an old friend of mine, from the East. We were just walking together when we came upon them."

Yugi's eyes were glistening in tears. "Thank you for saving them, Yami... I don't know what I would've if they were killed."

Yami's heart suddenly panged from guilt, but managed to answer. "You're welcome Yugi, now, go back to the camp and get some medics over here."

Yugi bobbed his head up and down and rushed out of the cave. Seto leaned toward a grim Yami. "I lied to him, again Seto. I just can't take all of this guilt."

Seto agreed. "You can't lie to him forever, Yami. Sooner or later he'll find out the truth, why not just tell it to him and get it over with?"

Yami looked up, a surprised look on his face. "Then what? Tell him I'm a bloodthirsty vampire who can't even restrain himself from drinking blood. A vampire who had lied to him every step of the way to gain his trust? I can't let him go through that pain, he would never forgive me."

"You are willing to lie entirely through your relationship, AGAIN? Remember four hundred years, you never told your lover about your true nature. Look what happened to him! He was killed naïve and unknowing because he didn't know the dangers of being in a relationship with you! You're willing to risk that again, his death?" Seto seethed angrily.

"Seto. I'm sorry. But I cannot lose him again. I've finally found him again, and we might be able to be together like last time. I just have to take the chance," Yami replied sadly.

Seto shook his head slowly. "This is all going to end in ill."

Fifteen days later......................................

Diary of Seto Kaiba:

November 13, 2004:

'The twelve day of our journey to the village fortress of Averon. Yami has ignored my advice to tell Yugi of him being a vampire. However, Yami and Yugi are steadily gaining a real and close relationship. Wherever Yami is, Yugi is also, and vice versa. They are very intimate together now, everyone in the caravan knows that they are officially boyfriend, and well....... boyfriend. Yugi got his first kiss with Yami a few days ago, right in front of me too. I wouldn't have hurled if their lovemaking had lasted under a minute.

Luckily both Yami and I had immune to the power of the sunlight, or else the humans might become suspicious.

Unfortunately I feel a shadow brewing in the distance. If it is who I think it is, we all are doomed, no question about it. Yami is so obsessed with his love for Yugi that he doesn't even notice it.

I just got a message from Bakura, he says he traveling to Averon as well, with a different caravan however. Bakura also told me that he had found a human boyfriend as well, a boy by the name of Ryou. Poor kid.

I am however happy that I do NOT have a boyfriend. Yami keeps on hinting that I like that dog, Jounouchi. Very funny, I'll rather have ten kilos of garlic in my veins then go on a date with that mongrel.

Great, now I hear noises coming from the other room. Better get out of here before Yugi and Yami start really getting it on.'

Seto Kaiba

Seto stood out in the moonlight, watching the moon closely. Noticing that the moon would be full the next day, Seto decided to keep that in mind. Seto was starving, a diet of just rodents really got a vampire's stomach grumbling. Damn Yami, for making him swear that he would never eat one of the caravan humans.

(Just remember. What mythical creature appears when there is a full moon?)

Life was extremely boring when your only two friends were preoccupied with making out with their boyfriends. With his disdain for mortal humans, Seto could never bring himself to befriend a human being.

"Hey, you there. What are ya doing?" Seto turned around to see Jounouchi hacking away at dense brush to get to him. "It's nearly midnight, why are you up so late?"

Seto sneered at the blond haired boy. "I just happen to be taking a midnight stroll puppy, what pray tell are you doing here?"

Jounouchi gritted his teeth. "I'm on guard duty tonight," he retorted.

"Guard duty against what? There aren't any raiders or robbers in this part of the country."

"For your information I happened to be on watch for vampires, werewolves, and the like," Jounouchi replied.

Seto let a steel-sounding chuckle. "You actually think you can handle fighting a werewolf, or even a powerful vampire for that matter? You couldn't stand five seconds against a creature such as those."

"Ah, shut your trap. I have better things ta do besides arguing with a cocky moron like you." Jounouchi turned and left.

If Seto had been paying more attention, he would have noticed Jounouchi had a small tinge of red upon his cheek.

When Jounouchi had gone, Seto shrugged. "Anyways, time to eat."

With his wings sprouting, Seto jumped and flew into the air, searching for any hapless prey that would be unfortunate enough to come in his wake.

"Master, how much more long must we wait?" asked a blood-red eyed vampire. "The creatures are getting restless. We may not be able to keep control of them for much longer."

Another vampire hidden in the dark scowled at the other, who backed away terrified. "Fine, if you must, send out a few to attack both the southern and northern caravans. Also send the controllable Alpha beasts; it's a full moon tomorrow, let see how Yami can parry off one of the most dangerous species in Romania. One more thing, tell the Beta beasts to capture Yami's lover alive and unharmed. I have special plans for that one myself."

(Alpha werewolves are just your typical average werewolf; they come to life by the full moon, and are gifted with amazing strength, incredible reflexes, and astounding senses. Beta werewolves on the other hand, were quite special. Able to control the timing of the appearance of the werewolf form, they, besides the powers of a normal Alpha werewolf, were also given psychic and sometimes even supernatural abilities.)

As the other vampire nodded and quickly scurried away, the other hidden vampire muttered to himself. "Yami, Yami, Yami. You are so unaware of my plans. You've no idea how that much that's going to cost you. I had wished to kill you face-to-face, but death by werewolf is horrible enough, especially for the likes of you."

The vampire looked up at the almost-full moon lit in a darkened sky. "The incident over four hundred years ago was just a chapter ending. This time Yami, this chapter will end the story."

The ancient vampire then spread his wings and took off into the night. "Now, I have business to attend to."

Anyways, please review. And I'll try to put a Yami/Yugi scene in the next chapter.


	4. Sorrow and Tears

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh or any mythology.

(Well, since this is R rated I can't do much yaoi-wise. But I'll try to give it a shot.)

A being touched down upon the ground, careful to not leave any markings or traces. Looking around a little, he then walked toward an abandoned trailer which had been partially destroyed.

The creature then opened the door slowly, to find nothing but pieces of rubble and cobwebs inside. Sensing that his target was located in another room, the being began walking towards a totally decimated bedroom.

A couple of rats had been scurrying around the ruins, but noticing the individual hastily dashed back to their holes.

The being grinned slightly, and as he did the moonlight shone off of two small deadly-looking fangs. He knelt down at a pile of rubble and began sifting through it, looking for his objective. Finally seeing it, the vampire then picked the object up, and rubbed the dirt off it.

The item blazed with golden radiance, slightly deterring its finder. The creature, narrowing his eyes nevertheless pocketed the object within his cloak.

Exiting the burned trailer, the vampire took off into the night sky, the puzzle-like item dangling from his waist.

Back to the traveling caravan, in Yugi's new trailer:

Yami laid Yugi down upon the bed, while engulfing Yugi's mouth with a passionate kiss. Yugi returned the kiss with equal vigor, and then slightly opened his mouth, giving Yami the opportunity he wanted.

Yami's tongue pushed Yugi's mouth, all the while exploring each sweet crevice of Yugi's mouth. Yugi moaned at Yami's kissing, then started undoing the buttons on Yami's silk shirt, exposing his partner's strong muscular chest.

Yami slowly undid Yugi's shirt as well, starting to make a trail of kisses along his lover's neck, going downwards. Yugi gave a short gasp as Yami gently bit his nipple, whimpering at Yami's actions.

With one hand Yami started to playfully rub Yugi's tanned discs, and with the other started to slowly remove Yugi's leather pants.

"Yami, how do you know every sensitive spot on me?" moaned Yugi.

Yami gave a tender smile to his aibou, "It is because we are not only linked together now by body, but also in spirit and mind."

Yami's affectionate hands began to stroke Yugi's inner thighs, eliciting a yelp from Yugi. The feeling of their arousals rubbing together made Yugi blush a even more crimson color than Yami's beautiful red eyes.

The taller of the two lovers planted a small kiss upon Yugi's forehead. "I love you Yugi, no matter what happens I will always love you."

The smaller tri-colored haired boy smiled as well. "And I too Yami. You will always have my heart."

Yami proceeded then to start to do away with Yugi's boxers......

A hard knock to the door shattered both lovers back to reality. "Hey, Yami! I know you're in there! Open up you baka!"

Yami muttered a short curse, then after putting his tight leather pants back on opened the trailer door.

(So close........ I know. But restrictions apply to R-rated fics.)

Before Yami stood a cloaked man, undistinguishable in body by his disguise but noticeable to Yami by his two dark-looking brown eyes. The cloaked person then proceeded to yank Yami off his feet, out into the trailer patio.

"I've a need to speak with you alone, no puny shrimp listening in on us," the stranger spoke in a gruff voice, motioning toward a confused Yugi inside the trailer. Yami gritted his teeth.

"Watch who you're calling a shrimp Bakura, never insult him again, got it? That shrimp happens to be Yugi, my boyfriend!" Yami nearly exploded at the man.

Bakura removed his hood, exposing his untidy and grizzled hair, his slightly noticeable fangs and piercing dark eyes. "Fine, have it your way baka. I've more important things to speak of then your boyfriend; I've gotten word that werewolves are following your camp, just waiting to strike tomorrow."

Yami stared suspiciously at the white-haired vampire. "How am I supposed to believe that? You've always spoke of tall-tales when we were younger, I have no reassurance that you're speaking the truth."

"Listen to me, damn it! I swear by Satan's fang, if you do not quicken this caravan's travel pace you will all be dead the day after tomorrow, including your precious lover," yelled Bakura defiantly.

Yugi's gentle voice spoke up from inside the trailer. "Who's going to be dead tomorrow? Yami, who are you talking to?"

Yami quickly replied, "Nothing, it just another old friend of mine." Yami then grabbed Bakura's collar and hoisted him up belligerently.

"Hold your voice down, Bakura. I do not want Yugi to be knowing of any of this, you got that Bakura? Don't tell him a word."

Bakura gave an imperious sneer at the other vampire. "Hah, just as I had thought, you haven't told him squat have you? Just like last time."

Yami flashed a dangerous look at Bakura, "Have you told Ryou of your true-being yet Bakura, I didn't think so.

"Do not change the subject Yami, you're treading upon dangerous ground there," Bakura said as his eyes turned even more icy and cold. "Listen to me Yami, I may not be that strong of a vampire but I do have a special talent which you do not, the telling of the future. You will DIE if you do not heed my warning."

(They're great friends, aren't they?)

Yami still refused to believe Bakura. "Give me one good reason on why I should listen to you."

Bakura spat on the ground to the side of them, and then handed Yami a small lump of powder. "Here's your proof, found it on the back of your very own trailer."

Yami slowly examined the powder, rubbing it between his fingers. "Is this real woad Bakura? The w-o-a-d, the powder that attracts werewolves?" Bakura gave Yami a short nod.

Yami threw down the powder. We need to get out of here; I need to speak with the caravan leader now."

As Bakura watched Yami run quickly away, he noticed the brush beside him slightly moving. With an annoyed shout Bakura leapt into the brush and pulled out an exact duplicate of himself out with him. "Damn it, Ryou! You followed me all the way here didn't you?"

Ryou gave a terrified nod. "I'm so sorry Bakura. Really, I am. But I couldn't sit there while knowing you might be somewhere else in danger."

Bakura grabbed the collar of Ryou's white shirt. "Listen to me, "koi", I don't need your help, and I will never need your help. I'm perfectly fine by myself, and unfortunately now I have to take care of an additional brat."

Bakura punched Ryou in the smaller white-haired boy's gut; then left Ryou's crumpled body down upon the ground. Bakura shook off the impulse that he had done something wrong, and walked away.

Ryou clutched his throbbing stomach, a crystal tear fell from one of his bright chocolate eyes and down onto the ground.

Diary of Seto Kaiba:

November 14, 2004:

Well, after being pulled from my dinner by Yami, forced to flee throughout on FOOT while starving, and while being chased by werewolves; I'll be taking a long vacation after this incident.

We've been running nonstop, all forty-seven of us archeologists and disguised vampires alike. It was quite amusing however to see Bakura drag Ryou upon the ground for a good half-mile.

Bakura was right. I sense werewolves behind us as well. And there are quite a lot of them too, twenty-three at my last count. There's also a creature among the werewolves that I can't discern. Better watch out for that one.

Well, at least we're only about sixty miles away from our destination, Averon. Yami unfortunately has resisted my attempts to just fly away and leave these human losers to be eaten.

Anyways, I hope to still be in pieces to write my next pointless journal entry. Werewolves are one serious bunch of animals. Me, Yami, Bakura, Yugi, Malik, Honda, and the sniveling dog have armed ourselves in case this comes down to the worst.

Seto Kaiba

Nine-o-clock at night................

"That's it. We stop here," yelled Malik between pants. "Half of us cannot run any further."

Bakura gave a mean growl. "Oh, I'm sure those werewolves will appreciate that decision a lot. We can't stop, Egyptian boy."

An ear-splitting howl froze everyone's bodies, sending a deep freezing chill down each person's spine. Several more yowls accompanied the first, sending Bakura into a near frenzy. "Great, now it's too late anyways. That's it, I'm out of here."

Yami grabbed Bakura's hair. "You aren't going anywhere, scaredy-cat. You're staying here until the end."

Bakura wrestled his hair away from Yami's grip. "I'm not scared Yami, I just think the end a little sooner than you think. I'll bet you those werewolves are in full form now, and only a few miles away. They'll be here in minutes."

Yami nodded to Honda, "Honda, retreat with the rest of the camp to Averon at full-pace. I and the other designated fighters will hold them as long as we can." Honda gave a quick nod, and kept on running down the road, along with the rest of the caravan.

Yugi gave a slight fearful look at Yami, to which Yami placed his hand reassuringly upon Yugi's shoulder. "Don't worry; we both will get through this."

Jounouchi, Yugi, and Malik stood in a line with rifles loaded with silver bullets, while Seto, Yami, and Bakura were lined up in front of them, hand-to-hand weapons raised.

Each fighter began to glance around the surrounding area, not knowing where their enemy would strike. Sweat began to bead down their necks as the howls grew ever closer to their position.

Yami gave Yugi one last small hug, and then lifted up his sword toward the direction of the howls. Bakura scanned the countryside, taking note of dark shapes from many sides that were coming closer. "Great, they've formed a semicircle on our position."

Yami telepathically talked to both Seto and Bakura, warning them not to reveal any vampire powers.

(Sucks doesn't it, having to act easy on a creature that can already tear you limb from limb.)

Suddenly a shot rippled the silence, smoke poured from Yugi's rifle as an empty cartridge hit the ground. Bakura was furious. "You just wasted just like that. Why I ought to-"

A huge werewolf let a tremendous yelp after being hit, blood streamed from an open wound upon its chest. The werewolf then began to charge toward the group, as well as twenty others who broke cover as well.

Jounouchi, Yugi, and Malik got only a few shots off before the werewolves fell upon them. "Hold, Hold!" Yami yelled. A werewolf let out a tremendous swipe at the vampire, which Yami dodged and then propelled his sword forward.

The werewolf caught the blade, and gruffly sent a punch which made Yami fall sprawling. Yugi tried to run to Yami's aid, but was blocked by two other of the creatures.

Jounouchi threw a blade at an attacking werewolf, which caught the monster upon the shoulder, but it kept on coming. Sheathing a spear, Jounouchi parried the werewolf's claws with the weapon, but was knocked to the ground by another werewolf.

As both werewolves leapt upon him, Seto came, slamming his own body into the werewolves, hitting them away from the blond haired boy. "Thanks......." Jounouchi managed to mumble before both he and Seto were attacked by more monsters.

Bakura meanwhile was having trouble. Cornered by four werewolves, Bakura glanced uneasily as each. Suddenly Bakura let out a burst of energy as the werewolves attacked him, stunning each individual creature.

Luckily, all the human fighters were too busy to notice the radiant energy, but Seto and Yami gave looks to Bakura that could kill; Yami shouted at Bakura every human and vampire curse that he knew telepathically at the white-haired vampire. Bakura shrugged it off, and proceeded to stab each petrified werewolf.

Two werewolves had bounded past the group of warriors toward the main fleeing caravan. "Malik, go after those two werewolves, will ya? The rest of us are currently kinda occupied," Jounouchi hollered. Malik began to sprint after the twin werewolves, his rifle in hand.

Two beings, both werewolves, stood watching the battle from a far hill. One was a normal red-eyed werewolf, however the only other werewolf possessed bright emerald yes. The blood-eyed werewolf began to speak in a barely translatable tone. "Masghter rwants te shmall thee-cololled harred boy."

"Yes, I know. How about I get the boy, you kill the vampire," the other creature replied. The other werewolf bared his six-inch long teeth and started bounding towards Yami, while the emerald-eyed werewolf took off towards Yugi.

Yami turned to face the newcomer, who opened his humungous jaw, exposing every sharp tooth the werewolf had. The werewolf whipped his mouth towards Yami's jugular vein, with the intent to rip Yami's neck out.

Yami delivered two sharp kicks into the werewolf's side, then grabbed the great hide of the creature and tossed it. It landed harshly, but easily managed to regain its footing.

The werewolf's crimson eyes suddenly seemed to emit light, and Yami fell back, his mind dazed. The werewolf jumped into the air with the intent to slam and kill the bewildered vampire. Dozens of bullets hit the werewolf as both Jounouchi and Bakura unleashed a fury of cartridges at the fiend.

(Mental attacks are cool, aren't they?)

His eyes emitted a desperate last flash of light, but then the werewolf toppled down the hill, dead as a doornail. Yami gradually got up, but then his mind flickered again back to reality, realizing that Yugi was nowhere to be found!

Yami glanced around desperately, seeing nothing of Yugi except broken remnants of Yugi's swords. Then Yami's sharp eyes spotted some werewolf tracks that led away from the battlefield, one of Yugi's precious hairs lining the mud footprint. Before anyone could stop him, Yami dashed as fast as he could after the footprints.

Jounouchi made a move to chase after the crazed Yami, but Seto halted him. "You can't stop Yami now, its best that we just go to Averon now; we are in no condition to give chase. Besides, we have to make sure of what happened to those two werewolves chasing after the caravan."

Drooping his head downward, Jounouchi breathed a sigh in defeat. Too tired to make any retort, Jounouchi began to make the long march to Averon, along with Seto and Bakura.

Not caring of the dense brush and trees in his way, Yami flew in and between the barriers of the forest. "Curse you to hell Yami! How could you forget about Yugi, and be so stupid to leave him alone, to fight werewolves no less? I promised Yugi I would always be there for him. Please, please, Yugi be here. I beg of you."

Yami suddenly paused his flight, his eyes darting towards a huge cliff that was in his way................ and where the footprints suddenly ended.

The vampire closed his dark eyes in sorrow, but then reopened them and started to examine the area. Yami looked behind every tree, checked every crevice of the cliff, but he had found nothing. Desperation had nearly pushed him to the edge when he noticed something caught in a branch of a tree.

Yami flew towards the object, which happened to be a small slip of paper as Yami drew closer.

He opened the slip of paper, and it reads as follows:

Dear Yami,

I know what it is you seek, and I know how you can receive him back. Meet me at the cemetery of Khurkvan November 24, at 6:00 pm, not later not earlier. There we will "bargain", to which you might receive your lover back, or you will not.

Sincerely, The Impaler

Yami let out an angry yell into the sky. Tears began to fall from the ancient vampire's crimson eyes.

(The Impaler is another of the many nicknames of Yami's enemy.)

Jounouchi tried to make a smile, he had finally reached Averon. His honey eyes were drowsy beyond measure, all he wanted to do was sleep. Honda however, after hearing of Yugi and Yami's predicament, asked for Seto, Bakura, and him to come to the hospital wing.

"Come on, he's in here," Honda gestured toward the far end of the infirmary.

"Who the fuck are you talking about, Honda. Malik's fine, I saw him while coming into Averon. What game are you playing?" asked Bakura harshly.

Honda gave Bakura a cold stare, and showed him and well as the Seto and Jounouchi a patient who was lying upon a hospital bed.

Seto snapped his eyes shut and looked away, Bakura's stolid face crumbled into despair and anguish, and Jounouchi could do nothing but collapse onto his knees.

Upon the bed lay the still form of Ryou Bakura, two werewolf bite marks upon the white haired boy's neck.

Sorry for the depressing chapter. Don't worry. The other chapters won't be this pessimistic. Anyways, please review.


	5. Preparations

(Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh or any noticeable mythology in this story.)

A chained and shackled boy struggled against his confinements, all the while being dragged toward a room by three vampires. The boy resisted with all his might, but the vampires holding the ends of his chains were much stronger than he.

"Let, me go you monsters," the young boy yelled piercingly. "If you don't let me go this instant, as soon as Yami rescues I promise to hunt each of you down."

The vampires, annoyed at the tri-colored haired boy's continued ranting, breathed a sigh of relief as they threw Yugi upon the stone floor of a large barely lit room, shutting the large embroidered doors behind him.

Yugi took a quick look around the dark room; seeing no one he took a few hesitant steps further into the room, his chains causing a raucous clamor upon the cold and damp stone tiles.

A frosty voice reverberated through the room, startling its small occupant, causing Yugi to take a few steps backwards. "Ah, Yugi. We finally meet again, it's been so long."

Yugi finally mustered up the courage to respond. "Who.. Who are you?"

"I'm the person who has been searching for you, as well as your supposed lover Yami. I am also another being who prefers the truth to be known. I'm a vampire, an ancient vampire to be exact. I was once friends and companion to your dear Yami."

Yugi flinched as the creature spoke the word vampire, and started gazing everywhere, looking for the emitter of the voices. "What do you mean? Yami would never be friends with one of you killing monsters. He would never hide anything from me, he told me so himself."

(Yes, what a deluded person Yugi is)

The vampire raised his eyebrows slightly, and then let out of steel-scraping laugh, shivering Yugi to the cores of his bones. "Obviously then Yami hasn't been telling you anything about what he really is. Did you actually believe that Yami could be so skilled a fighter, yet be still human?"

Yugi tried to put up a brave face, but inside his heart flew into a turmoil of confusion, fear, and worry. "What are you getting at?"

The vampire grinned, "Let me tell you a little story about your friend."

Jounouchi lay with his head upon Ryou's hospital bed, his eyes shedding many a crystalline tear. Bakura at the sight of Ryou's bitten neck immediately bolted out of room, the white-haired vampire was currently believed to be walking alone in the surrounding forest.

Ryou himself was quite still; luckily however his chest still moved; indicating Ryou was still barely alive. Seto lengthily turned to Honda. "What happened to Ryou, Honda? How did he get bitten?"

Honda eyes were dull, his voice a tone of grief and gloom. "Here's what happened............"

"Ryou, lead the rest of the people out of here. There are still two werewolves who got past them, they're coming after us," Honda shouted at the chocolate-eyed boy. Ryou nodded and began to direct the caravan to run at a faster pace, while Honda turned to face two dark shapes coming toward him.

Honda slammed a pole into the first incoming werewolf, deterring it to face the brown-haired man. The other beast took no notice of him and bounded past the facing pair, still towards the helpless caravan.

Lighting a torch, Honda used the weapon to maintain a small distance between him and the werewolf. Malik soon came up the hillside, but Honda waved him on. "Malik, keep on going towards the convoy, one got past me."

As Malik ran past him, Honda sheathed a large can of aerosol spray. "Let's see this works like in the movies."

The werewolf lunged at him, to which Honda shot the aerosol right through the torch, creating a huge billowing flame effect. The werewolf yelled and scorched in pain, while Honda kept on burning it. Eventually nothing remained of the creature except a pile of burned ashes and cinders. "Well, guess you can learn something from those films."

Malik meanwhile had just managed to halt a werewolf from tearing apart an old archeologist, firing a bullet at it. The beast hissed in pain, but managed to jump upon Malik, eliciting a kick from the young Egyptian. The beast flinched, but opened his jaw, revealing hundreds of impossibly sharp teeth.

Just as the creature was about to begin his meal, a certain young English boy leapt upon the furry hide of the creature, amazingly knocking both himself and the beast ten-feet away. Malik scrambled back up, and retrieved his gun.

As Ryou precariously held upon the werewolf's neck, Malik aimed another shot at the beast, but suddenly the claws upon the werewolf's feet lashed out, butting Malik's head and knocking him unconscious upon the ground.

The werewolf then flipped the hapless Ryou into the air and caught the teenager in a firm hold, sinking his largest fangs into the boy's fragile neck. Ryou's eyes widened as the werewolf bit, his face turning even whiter than it currently was. A torch suddenly appeared in the werewolf, causing it to pull out its teeth in pain.

Honda then ran up to the agonized werewolf and beheaded it swiftly, the head rolling upon the grasses of the field. Honda dropped his sword, and ran to the bitten Ryou. Blood spilled in large amounts from Ryou's wound, soaking the nearby ground with hues of crimson red. Ryou had also taken upon a dangerous fever, his eyes becoming glassy and unfocused..............

Seto shook his head. "Great, we have now two disappeared friends, another who is currently filled with werewolf toxins, and another of us is despondent."

Peering again at Ryou's blood-soaked wound, Seto glanced out the window. "I know of only one person who can heal Ryou: my younger brother."

"You have a younger brother?"

"Yes, his name is Mokuba," Seto replied. "He lives in the Italian land; Rome to be precise, the ancient city of civilization in the West."

"Shut up with the history lesson; is your brother a master healer or something?" Honda asked.

"He's an alchemist. One of the greatest potion makers in the Western world, but enough of that. My younger brother found a little while ago, the panacea, the remedy that is capable of curing any wound, disease, or malady. With the panacea, we can most certainly cure Ryou."

"But your brother's in freaking Rome! That's hundreds and hundreds of miles away, how do you expect we get there before Ryou dies or turns into a werewolf or something like that?"

Seto thought hard. He couldn't apparate all the way to Italy. Apparition was a skill that required a huge amount of energy, and could not be reliable over very long distances. Besides, Seto knew he had to find Yami and most of all, "the Impaler". His duty was here in Romania, not in the far west. But someone needed to get to Mokuba and get the panacea, and even more importantly the alkahest; the very few of all substances that could even touch his vampire enemy.

"Honda, this is what I want you to do. Grab two horses, get three weeks of dry provisions for two, get Malik, and ride to Rome with him. When you're there, talk to my brother, you'll find him at the St. Peter's Basilica. Get the panacea as well as the item alkahest, and ride back here as quickly as you can. Also, tell my brother to gather and deploy his magnetics and astrals."

(Astrals and magnetics are the code word for psychic vampires. Vampires who rather did not suck the blood out of your physical body; but instead stole the energy of your soul.)

"Well that was short notice Kaiba. Why do I have to be the rider, why not you or Jounouchi or something? I've never ridden a horse long distance before."

"Well, guess this is a great time to start," Seto muttered dryly.

"Listen, Kaiba! I'm not taking orders from you or any others."

Seto was exasperated at his companion's incessant whining. "Do for Ryou then! You know as well as I do Ryou will indeed go berserk from his werewolf bite or die if he is not treated by the next full moon. The panacea will save him, okay?"

Honda sighed heavily; then began slowly to walk out of the room. "Fine.... By the way; what's an astral and a magnetic?"

"Never mind, just ask him." Honda shook his head and rolled his eyes.

"Malik, where are you? We've got a new errand to run!"

Many days later...................................

Seto looked out the steel-pained window, still searching for his tri-colored haired companion. Seto had looked everywhere, from the inner wrenches of the forest, to the billowing snows of the nearby mountains. He had even checked underground. Yami was nowhere to be found in the entire region.

At least he had found Bakura; a gaunt and haggard figure after Seto found him five days after Bakura disappeared. Luckily, Bakura's personality had changed significantly since he had left them, Seto had found out. Seto's cold cobalt eyes gazed at the dimming sunset, recalling an earlier conversation with Bakura, soon after he had found the white-haired vampire.

"You know Seto, I've thought for a long time why I've treated Ryou so badly, and now I know the answer. My definition of strong is one of physical strength, and how hard a person can punch. So I've always thought of Ryou as a weakling who needed to be toughened up; I just didn't want Ryou to be taken advantage of when he entered a harsher world. However Ryou's best strength lies within his spirit, and I never realized that sometimes that could be one of the greatest strengths to have."

"I know, Ryou has one of the strongest spirits I've seen a long while," Seto responded. "How else could he stand being your lover?"

Bakura tried to give a grin, but then slowly lowered and shook his head. "I can't believe I've treated him so badly. Ryou may be weak in stature and strength, but those are the characteristics of Ryou, and I can't change that. He'll never forgive me, and now he'll never be able to."

"What happened to Ryou was not of your doing Bakura; he'll never blame you for that. Forgiving you is a decision that is up to him, isn't it? It is not for us to make the decision, but for Ryou. There is hope for Ryou, you do know that. Don't worry; I'm sure Ryou will pull through this."

Bakura slowly raised his head. "Thank you, Seto. I only hope Ryou can find it in his heart to forgive me."

Seto's frosted eyes flickered again. Now that Bakura had been found, Kaiba was now ready to start. The cobalt-eyed vampire had previously found a slip of paper which spoke of his enemy holding up Yugi, and of a time for bargaining for the young boy. He was positive that Yami had previously seen the same letter and would go to the ancient cemetery, and so would Seto and Bakura. Jounouchi meanwhile would stay in Khurkvan and tend to Ryou. Together, they would go to the Khurkvan cemetery, rescue Yugi, and defeat "him". Even "he" couldn't stand against the might of three legendary vampires, each gifted with his own magical powers.

Currently Honda and Malik were riding west to Rome to gather up Mokuba's forces, to rescue Averon when the inevitable attack of his enemy's army occurred. Honda had not realized his reason of sending Malik to Rome with him. Seto's enemy and Malik bore an unnatural resemblance to each other; if the two were together something might occur that would be harmful to their cause.

Each part of his plan had to fit together, or else everything and everyone would fall. Unfortunately the odds were not on Seto's side, his enemy had far more resources at his disposal, and who knows what he could have done to Yugi? Yami as well as Bakura had emotional weaknesses for their lovers, rendering them helpless in some situations. Luckily Seto was not their predicament, having to worry consistently about a human.

Averon needed to suit up for war, as battle was soon to be upon them. Over tens of thousands of civilians had fled there for safety, so Averon had many soldiers defending the bastion. Unfortunately all those defenders were merely mortal human, not ideal or helpful for facing the might of a vampire army.

Vampires were not the only creatures that the enemy had at his disposal. Zombies, undead skeletons, and ghosts swarmed in huge numbers among the opposing army. Werewolves also marshaled at "his" banner, many a legion of those fell creatures swelled the ranks of the enemy. The leader of the werewolves, Otogi Ryuuji, would most certainly lead the attack. However Seto was quite certain that Otogi would be at Khurkvan, so it was a necessity to finish off Otogi there. Besides, they had a four hundred year old score to settle.

Two days, that was all the time that Seto and Bakura had to prepare for the Khurkvan meeting. "He" would be there, one of the mightiest vampire forces ever to walk the soil of this Earth. With the ancient werewolf Ryuuji on his side; they would sure need a hell of a lot of luck to defeat them.

Yugi was also a major factor in all this. Seto had a small hunch that Yugi was still human and quite alive, but what had "he" done to the poor boy. His enemy could have played many tricks upon Yugi's mind, perhaps even inclining Yugi to fight against their side. Or Seto's feeling could be wrong, "he" could have already drained Yugi, who this time had no hope for resurrection. What had their enemy done to Yugi?

Two days......................................All they had............

PLZ REVIEW PLEASE!!!! Next chapter will feature the meeting of Khurkvan, and the fate of Yugi.


	6. Khurkvan

(I don't own Yu-gi-oh, or any mythology located within this story)

"Well, we're finally here. See, Honda? I told you just sailing to Rome would be much easier and faster than riding there."

"Yeah, except for that pirate situation we had somewhere in the Mediterranean Sea. That was entirely avoidable," scowled Honda at his Egyptian companion.

"Why do you keep laying the blame on me, it was your damn fault," retorted Malik.

Honda looked around, and seeing a sign that pointed to the location of their target cathedral, he began to walk in the said direction. "Ah, never mind. Why did Kaiba have the stupid Egyptian travel with me, why not Jou?"

"Because Seto didn't want two stupid idiots messing up an important task, both the blondie and you have the combined IQ of a doorknob."

Honda clenched his fists. "I've been exhibiting restraint from the great urge to pound you to a pulp. If you continue to tempt me I will be happy to unleash my anger upon said self."

"Wow, that's the first time you've actually said an intelligible sentence. Nah, I'm wasting my time to fight a loser like yourself. It'll be over in ten seconds flat."

"What are ya talking about you piece of Egyptian crap, my grand mom could beat up your ass handily."

Malik raised his eyebrows. "Oh, so you've lost to your grandmother in a fighting match?"

The pair to argue violently back and forth while still walking toward their destination. Slowly but surely, the towers of St. Peter's Basilica were soon within sight, able to be seen in the far reaches of the ancient city.

"Well, Bakura? Do you think you're ready?" Seto asked as he walked, his anxious fingers stroking the shimmering metal of his twin rapiers.

"Hell yeah. I'm ready to rip out that vampire's throat after what he did to Ryou," replied the white-haired vampire angrily. "By why did you have to send two pathetic humans to retrieve the panacea, why not me or something?"

"Because we need you to help us defeat 'him', we need to be certain that we can defeat this malice."

"Don't worry then. It'll be my pleasure to kill this vampire personally."

Seto nodded. "We do need to be careful though, because 'he' is a great vampire fighter, probably more powerful than any of us. We'll also need to......... What the hell was that?"

The sound of a huge blast deafened the air, causing Bakura and Seto to gaze around nervously. Since the explosion seemed to have originated at the Khurkvan cemetery, the two vampires began running in that direction.

Upon reaching their target destination, they found pieces of smoldering metal, all that was left of the metal gates that blocked the entrance to the inner reaches of the cemetery. "Well, I guess Yami has had some anger management issues since we last saw him," Bakura muttered.

They proceeded cautiously into the cemetery, glancing around tombstones and grave markers. "Hey, Seto. Did that letter mention anything about WHERE in the cemetery we were supposed to meet? Any place in this cemetery is creepy enough to meet with 'him'."

"I have no fucking idea about where we're supposed to go, so shut it Kura. We just have to follow Yami's energy trail, that's all."

"The time's fifteen-before-six, so we have some time before "he" gets here," murmured Bakura. "Oh yeah, Seto; who exactly are we up against? I've fought the werewolf Ryuuji before, but who is this big mastermind person?"

Seto's pupils glazed over as he recounted his past. "Actually 'he' was once a normal human being who lived five thousands years ago, during the same time when Yami and I's pre-vampire selves existed. He was the son of a priest in the Pharaoh's royal council, the same council of which I was High Priest. The pharaoh at the time as you know was Atemu, or the pre-Yami human. And of course, you had to be that blasted tomb robber who kept on pestering us."

"Hey, back in those days a guy had to make living for himself, legal or not. Besides, I ended up being a vampire too," replied Bakura.

"Yeah, well, I guess people who lived in those times had a higher chance than others to be reborn as vampires. Unfortunately, 'he' had it much worse. He was bitten by the vampire Dracula, but you know him by Pegasus, who performed the baptism of blood upon the boy's poor soul. As you know that specific ritual will let the initiator of the ritual control any newborn vampire when that vampire is created. He became Pegasus' servant, bidding upon his every whim."

(The 'baptism of blood' was a ritual that vampires used for humans to create more vampires. A human is bitten by a vampire, but does not die from blood loss. Instead, after a few days the human will become a newborn vampire. However, after that the human is forced to drink the vampire initiator's blood, killing the human. The human is then reborn as a vampire.)

"Ugh, poor kid." Bakura grimaced at hearing of the vampire's unfortunate fate.

"When the ritual was inflicted upon him all traces of the good-natured human I knew was gone, and a blood-thirsty vampire took his place. 'He' fought against the ritual as hard as he could, but failed. There could have been hope to save him when Pegasus was killed, but he already drank the blood of a human being, combusting the idea of changing him back to a human. This vampire then became Pegasus' shadow, even revoking his own name to be known by the former Dracula's nicknames, such as 'The Impaler'."

"Then what was this vampire's real name?"

"His former human name was Marik, though he barely even recognizes it now. In one of his bloodlust rampages, he killed the lover of Yami, and he and Yami fought. The rest is history." Seto stopped walking. "And over there, I believe, is Yami."

Yami sat upon an unmarked gravestone, his eyes shielded so no one could determine his emotions that were noticeable within his eyes. His beautiful tri-colored hair had been dampened by the many days of rain. Even his deep voice was strained and unnaturally cracked when he spoke to them. "Kaiba, Bakura, what are you doing here? You have to get out of here now."

Bakura raised an eyebrow. "What makes you think we'll leave? I didn't come all this way here to Khurkvan for nothing."

Yami slowly got up from his position and walked straight up to Bakura, both of their eyes meeting. Yami's crimson eyes were even redder from many days of no sleep and crying, Bakura noticed. His face also seemed to exude an aura of depression. "This is a private between me and him, please do not interfere. Go now or I will force you to leave."

Bakura's eyes gleamed red, with a quick movement he had hoisted up Yami by his neck collar. "Listen you damn Pharaoh, I have better things to do than to listen to that shit. Ryou's dying and I aim to blast apart that guy who did it to him; if I have to get past you to do that then I will."

Before Yami could respond, Seto interrupted him as well. "Do you seriously think Yami, that you can rescue Yugi all by yourself? I have been looking for you all these days, trying to find you, except I couldn't. Now do you expect me after finally finding you to just let you walk to your death?"

However, the crimson-eyed vampire was still unfazed. "I'm very sorry about Ryou, Bakura, but I have to do this alone. I will not drag you two into..................." Yami's voice trailed off as he caught sight of an eavesdropper sitting upon another gravestone before him.

"Ah, finally you've finished arguing. May I join the party?" Out of the shadows a vampire stepped out, causing all three vampires to hastily draw their weapons. The vampire was an Egyptian, his skin dark from the scorching of the great sun. His hair was wild, his blond hairs jutting out in abnormal ways. Dark marks adorned the vampire's eyes, the pupils itself narrow, dull, and sinister.

Yami took a step toward the Egyptian vampire. "Here I am, where's Yugi?"

The vampire's violet eyes gleamed dangerously at Yami. "If you expect me to just give you him outright, you're wrong. You know what of which thing I want, give me the item if you wish to receive Yugi back to you."

Now it was Yami's turn to be confused. "What the fuck are you talking about, what do you want from me?"

Marik growled; his teeth grated together like a saw. "Are you as dumb as you look? You know damn well I mean the Millennium Puzzle, now hand it over!"

"Why you think that I have the item, I haven't seen it!"

Narrowing his eyes even further than they already were, Marik replied, "I went to retrieve The Puzzle once my body had been reformed, but the item had been already taken. Only you could have done it, you knew where it was located. Exactly where we had left it."

"Or not! I haven't seen The Puzzle and I don't know where the fuck it currently is, get that into your thick skull."

"Do you arguing vampires mean this?" Bakura had sheathed an item from his cloak, laying an object of brilliant golden radiance upon a tomb marker. Yami gaped. "All this time you have had The Puzzle, Bakura, and you didn't tell me about it?" roared the angry crimson-eyed vampire.

Bakura ignored Yami's rants and instead turned to Marik. "Here's the deal, you give us Yugi, and we give you this item."

"Of course," came the reply.

Seto was infuriated. "Where the fuck has your brain gone, Bakura? You are really willing to GIVE that item to that mad vampire? Do you know what he could do with The Puzzle in his possession?"

Bakura nonchalantly tossed the item to Marik, much to both Seto and Yami's surprise and fear. Seto grabbed a slightly smiling Bakura and started throttling him. Marik turned The Puzzle over, only to find............."

"There's a piece missing Bakura, where is it? I don't have time for hide-and-seek games. Hand it over now."

(Did you actually think that Bakura was THAT evil, and was going to betray Seto and Yami? Well, actually............ Never mind........)

Bakura then bared his teeth, spitting to the ground on the side of him. "Give us Yugi; then you will receive what's coming to you. You will not get the puzzle piece out of me, without giving us Yugi first." Marik's fists clenched until it turned white from the pressure. "Fine then, as you wish," growled the ancient vampire.

In a moment Marik had reached behind him and materialized a certain boy with tri-colored hair and amethyst eyes. With a grunt, he heaved Yugi cruelly upon the ground, the boy's battered body smashing upon the dirt until he came to a rest before the three vampires' feet.

"Yugi!" Yami immediately rushed over to Yugi, turning the boy over onto his back. Yugi seemed unmoving, so Yami placed a healing hand upon the young boy's forehead. Yami's eyes brightened with color as he felt a pulse, as well as HUMAN blood coursing through Yugi's veins. Only then to hear a small choked whisper from the bundle of tri-colored hair.

"Get away from me you vampire."

Fear gripped Yami's heart, his face turning ghost white, as did Bakura and Seto's features. "P-please Yugi, I'm s-sorry.

Yugi's body suddenly trembled with rage, and with a furious yell had jumped away from his former lover. Yugi's normally amethyst eyes were now tainted with anger and hurt, the mere sight of Yugi's pupils drove a guilty hole right through Yami's heart.

"Y-yugi, please listen to me, I'm sorry."

The normal cheery and loving voice of Yugi that Yami had known so well had vanished, an angry tone filled with pain and frustration had taken its place. "No, Yami. It is I who should be sorry. Sorry that I was so foolish to love a vampire, a monster; who would only suck the blood clean out of me. At first I couldn't believe it. I thought that you weren't the kind to betray me. I guess I was wrong."

Yami was desperate; he could see that he was losing control of Yugi very quickly. "Onegai, Yugi, Onegai. I would never hurt you, please. Please, you have to believe me."

Yugi snorted with contempt. "And what then Yami? Listen to more of your cleverly-made lies? I trusted you completely Yami, and you have broken that trust utterly. And to believe I actually was in true love with you. Get away from me Yami, I never want to see you again, or I will kill you myself."

With those words, Yugi took off in a dead sprint away from Yami, tears forming around the edges of those amethyst eyes.

Yami slumped to the ground, his chest hurting with the pains of his despair and loss. A river of tears began to flow from Yami's hurt eyes; hope of forgiveness had deserted the poor vampire.

Incensed, Seto turned to Marik. "What the hell did you tell the poor boy?"

"Everything that truthful Kaiba," Marik gave a beaming smile. "Bakura, now give me the remaining piece, that was indeed the bargain wasn't it?"

Bakura slowly nodded his head, his hand fumbled within cloak for an item. "Well, I did say I'll give you what's coming to you, so THERE!"

The chocolate-eyed vampire threw a capsule directly at the Egyptian vampire, which proceeded to detonate right before Marik's face. A huge ball of green energy blasted Marik away, while Bakura grabbed Yami and directed all three of them to flee, the pockets of Bakura still containing the last Millennium Puzzle piece. "Okay now, time to run!"

An unhurt Marik slowly picked himself off the ground, cleaning the dirt off his clothes. "So Bakura, that's how you want to play. Here, in this cemetery, I will make sure that you all will perish. His eyes started brimming with a greenish glow.

The dirt before the gravestones started to sift.

Like always, PLZ REVIEW PLEASE! I need to know what others think about my story.


	7. Fire and Lightning

(I did not own Yu-gi-oh, or anything else in this story that belongs to someone else. I do own my OC's though, but they're going to enter the story very slowly and gradually)

Jounouchi stood upon one of the many balconies of Averon, watching the skies as a gentle breeze flowed through his delicate golden hair. He could not help but wonder what events were taking place in the great distances, in Khurkvan, where Seto, Yami, and Bakura had gone; and the Far West, where Honda and Malik headed.

The golden-haired boy looked behind him into the infirmary, where the sickened Ryou lied, his pure white skin growing paler after each passing day. His fever also was getting worse, and Jounouchi knew he did not have much time.

Footsteps sounded next to him, and the startled Jounouchi drew his blade; but he soon sheathed as he realized it was a friend, a young captain by the name of Sivril, whom he had befriended during his stay at Averon. A skilled military commander and the only doctor in the entire city, he had helped Jounouchi treat Ryou and delay his sickness.

"Mind if I stand here, Jou?" asked the doctor.

"Not at all."

As Sivril stood beside Jounouchi, he let a tremendous sigh. "Do you know what odds we are going against Jou? Marik is sending his entire freaking army against us, and we can't muster even half the soldiers we nee to mount a suitable defense. He might even muster those rebel bands in the east to attack us."

"How much men do we have," asked Jounouchi.

"A few thousands, no more. Also, our scouts have reported hundreds of riverboats containing armed men sailing towards us from the south. Mediterranean pirates I think they are."

"Then why not we transport our entire garrison somewhere else, didn't you say you have two brothers guarding another bastion somewhere west of here, let's move everybody there."

"Listen to me," Sivril grabbed Jounouchi's shoulder and pulled him face-to-face with him. The doctor's dark green eyes bore into the hazel ones of the other. "We have six thousand women and children in this place; try moving those people more then a snail's pace across the valleys. We would all be cut down before we reach halfway to my brothers' garrison."

Jounouchi closed his eyes and lowered his head. "Then what are we supposed to do?"

"The best I can do for now is send a messenger to the northern capitol asking for reinforcement. Hopefully then..."

A great lightning bolt suddenly struck nearby, interrupting Sivril. As both boys looked towards the southeast, they could make out a storm of fire and lightning in the vicinity of Khurkvan. However, the mountains blocked most of their view so they could not make out what was causing the storm, though it was pretty evident to both that the sight that they beheld was not natural. For the dark ominous clouds only gathered above that specific place, and beyond that region reigned sunshine.

"I wonder what is happening within that valley," commented Sivril.

All Jounouchi could do was give a nod and wonder, "Seto..."

And the fire and lightning continued to dance upon the distant valley.

Marik smirked smugly at the three fleeing figures in the distance. Who were these lowly scum; that they thought they could escape the wrath of Marik so easily as running away from him? His arm was long, and he wielded many mystic and great powers. None of his enemies were going to see the sunrise if he had anything to say about it. However, a mere thousand skeletons wasn't enough to ensure those three ancient vampires' destruction, Marik needed insurance.

A creature apparated besides the blond vampire, "What is your bidding my lord?"

Marik replied, "Otogi, I want you and three legions of my vampires to lead an direct attack upon Yami. I sense he will split up from the other two nuisances to try and rescue the human. Yugi is currently heading north, and I expect he will do the same. Follow him and eliminate that annoyance; kill the human boy as well."

"What if they manage to reach the northern mountains? Our territory does not extend to those places."

Marik gave a snarl, "I don't give a damn if those mountaintops are filled with human scum, pursue them to the Lucifer's gates if you have to. Those rebel bands aren't affiliated with the Averon government and they hate trespassers, so they may even do the job for us. So however they die bring me their carcasses when you return, and if you don't, severe consequences will result."

"What about the two others? Bakura and Kaiba? How will you deal with that duo?"

"I will relegate our entire garrison of skeletons in this cemetery to attack those two and finish them off. I will also send another legion of werewolves to ensure their demise, that should easily be enough force to eliminate them."

Ryuuji gave a quick nod, and vanished.

Marik then focused upon his other commander whom he would rely upon to destroy Bakura and Seto. With a quick mental thought, he relayed his message to the mind of his servant. "Two of my enemies seek to flee west to Averon for safety, cut them down before they reach that city. Retrieve the piece of the Millennium Puzzle and return it to me. The vampire with white hair is the one who possesses the piece so focus exclusive attention upon him. Get this job done!"

The creature gave grunt, and then broke the surface of the ground with a huge roar. The being sensed his targets were fleeing westward, so that direction he and his army would follow. He had met these two in battle before, so he knew how to prepare his army divisions. There was no way those puny vampires could escape his clutches reasoned the creature, for a skeleton army of thousands, plus a forty-foot tall skeleton as its leader is mighty hard to defeat.

Yami sprinted across the gravestones, desperately trying to find Yugi among the vast cemetery's grounds. He hoped Seto and Bakura could hold their own against the creatures Marik threw at them; but then, Yami reasoned, he should be more worried what was going to attack him. Many skeletons and zombies had arisen from their earthly graves, but none were moving to assault him. Only a few had even gotten in his way, of which he easily disposed of them. Instead the main force of undead was hastening westward, while Yami kept running north.

"Guess Marik valuing that puzzle piece more than me, but why would he let me escape without any obstacles? Man, where are you Yugi? We need to get out of this place."

Suddenly Yami sensed something, and crimson eyes looked toward the night skies. Several black objects flew among the clouds, and they were heading for the tri-colored haired vampire. Yami quickly counted them, "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Eight. That shouldn't be too difficult. Pretty small reception if you ask me."

As the vampires swooped closer, Yami picked up a jagged rock as he ran, and threw the stone at the coming formation. It was thrown accurately, and the sharp rock lodged itself into the leading vampire's throat, slaying it instantly. It fell to the ground, enormous quantities of blood squirting out of its neck wound. One of the vampires fired a green beam at Yami, but he easily deflected it. Three vampires attacked Yami headlong, while two each attacked Yami's sides. The first vampire drew a broadsword and attempted to impale Yami upon its razor edge, but he spun to the side and gave a devastating snap-kick to the vampire's fragile neck, effectively immobilizing it.

Yami retrieved the vampire's sword and parried the other six vampires' thrusts and swipes. One particularly hard swing from a vampire took off half of Yami's blade, but it left the vampire's body unguarded and Yami took the opportunity to stab the vampire's neck with the remaining sword blade.

Yami, seeing his sword destroyed, began to run backwards, the vampires giving quick chase. However, Yami then wrested a gravestone from the earth and hurled it directly at the coming creatures. It scored a direct hit upon a vampire's skull, crushing the hardened bone easily and driving many fragments of stone into the vampire's brain.

Another vampire swooped in from the side with a crystal spear and thrusted it in Yami's side. The ancient vampire's face contorted in pain, but then his surprise turned to anger, and the spear, and as well as the vampire, lit up on fire like a Molotov cocktail. While the vampire danced about, his body sheathed in burning flames, screaming obscenities, the remaining three gave a moment of hesitation brought out by fear, which was just what Yami needed.

Yami quickly materialized a sword made of pure flame, and ran the nearest vampire through with it. While one of the last surviving vampires attempted to attack Yami with a drawn dagger, the other lost heart and tried to flee. Yami easily avoided the thrust of the weapon, and gave a quick snap of the hand against his opponent's wrist. It effectively crushed the wrist bone, making the vampire drop the dagger. The tri-colored haired warrior then grabbed the fallen dagger and threw it right through the closer vampire's head. Still covered with the dead vampire's brain and blood, the dagger continued to fly through the air, until it struck the fleeing vampire right in the back of the head. The creature instantly crumpled.

Yami regained his breath, retrieved all the weapons he could carry, and began to still chase after Yugi. He hadn't gone a hundred yards before more black shapes filled the sky. Yami realized that Marik wasn't about to let him escape after all. "Just great."

Drawing a dagger pouch retrieved from the previous battle, Yami drew all five daggers and threw them all at once into the incoming battalion. The blades whirled dangerously about the air, immediately killing seven and wounding four of the opposing vampires. Looking quickly at his weaponry, Yami hurriedly selected a pair of long knives to combat the approaching vampires.

Wielding the two swords Yami began to fend off the coming creatures, parrying all blades that came at him. At first all was well, and Yami managed to slay quite a large number of his enemies. However the other vampires had the strength and odds of numbers on their side, and then gradually began to force their enemy backwards. When a huge axe swipe sheared off both his blades and nearly neck as well, Yami began to grow desperate.

With a mighty flap of his wings he took off into the air, scores of vampires following in his wake. Twin orbs of light shone from each of Yami's fists, as he began to power up a massive attack. But before he could unleash the twin beams, a shrill scream sounded that disturbed his thoughts and distracted him, combusting his attack. A scream that sounded mighty familiar. Seeing Yami distracted, Ryuuji thundered out of his hiding place and struck Yami down to the ground with his mighty claws.

(If you haven't realized by now, Otogi Ryuuji is a werewolf.)

Though stunned, Yami scrambled back up, dodging several attacks and crushing two vampires' skulls with his bare hands. Hearing a noise behind him, he quickly turned to combat the new threat, but not quickly enough. As quick as lightning five of the hardiest vampires drew back their swords and impaled them... right into Yami's chest. Crimson eyes lit up in immense pain, and blood flowed indiscreetly from his lips. Yami's body instinctively made a sudden powerful jerk, and all five blades broke off at their masters' hilts. All five vampires were taken aback and fell to the ground, though they recovered quickly. With all the strength he could muster, Yami grabbed all five blades with his hands and tore them right from his bleeding body. The crimson-eyed vampire then collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily. A steady stream of red blood began to flow downhill from Yami's position, tainting the green grass with a crimson hue.

As the blades hit the ground with a twang, Ryuuji apparated in front of the wounded vampire. "What's this? Yami, one of the greatest vampires on earth can't handle a few minor wounds?"

The werewolf let out a howling laugh, and then continued. "Guess you did hear that cry didn't you. That actually is your lover screaming if you want to make sure, guess that inferior human can't handle ten vampires all by himself. I estimate, five minutes at most before he is history."

Yami's heart gave a sudden jolt, and his blood pressure began to rise. His crimson eyes grew even redder, until like a blood-red sun foretelling a gruesome battle. Ryuuji was unfazed however, and sneered at his wounded enemy. "Do you think you can frighten me with a facial expression? Your doom is sealed here in this cemetery, attack him!"

The vampires assaulted Yami with new vigor, and while Yami defended himself expertly, three more spear thrusts brought him down yet again. The crimson-eyed vampire gasped upon the ground, blood pouring out of many wounds upon his body.

"Heh, I thought you would be more of a challenge to me than this Yami," Otogi muttered softly, yet loud enough for the hurt vampire to hear. "Yet compared to me now you are a mere dog, just like your little human pet. You are going to die and your little friend as well. And now this time there are no more other chances, no Millenium Puzzle for you to get another try at it."

Yami's eyes widened in rage, "Shut up".

"What? Are you mad? That you now, like last time, are too weak to defend your stupid love from certain death?"

"I said shut up!" His teeth gritted and his fists clenched so tightly that blood flowed from it.

"That you shall die knowing that your lover hates you, and will be forever separated in the Underwor..."

"I SAID SHUT UP!" The sky suddenly paled, and the clouds grew dark and foreboding. Fire and lightning suddenly appeared and raged in torrents about the Khurkvan cemetery. A scent of death began to descend upon the region's inhabitants. Ryuuji and his vampires were taken aback, none understanding what was happening. "What the hell is going on," muttered Ryuuji under his breath.

A bright light shone about Yami's body, which soon grew and entrapped all inside its fiery light. The werewolf barely had time to create a shield barrier before he was engulfed as well.

A full minute passed before the bright light slowly began to fade. After clearing his eyes, Ryuuji immediately looked around to access his situation. To his shock, barely any of his vampire army still remained, the rest had vanished! As he shifted his gaze before him, he still saw Yami there... but he had changed.

His skin tone had transformed from pure white to now a sharp shade of dark brown. Also, his clothing had changed. Instead of sporting those stupid Western clothes, the vampire now wore a priestly robe, and also a golden tiara with an eye in its middle graced the top of Yami's head. His wounds had completely healed, and there was an aura of royalty around him. The light continued to shine from the tiara's eye, but Yami never moved a muscle. His eyes were closed, and he seemed to be in state of meditation.

"What kind of attack was that?" Ryuuji fumed. "He nearly destroyed my entire army of three hundreds in mere seconds... but not all of them..." Ryuuji thought, "If he is as powerful as he looks, he should have been able to wipe out everybody, including me. This is a bluff, and even if it isn't, I still have ten remaining soldiers to work with. Okay, let's find out what he can do."

Nodding to the nearest vampire, Ryuuji spoke, "Attack him."

The vampire hesitated, but the cruel werewolf's fierce glare silenced his protest. With a deep breath, the creature drew his blade and ran towards light-emitting creature. Suddenly, a ghost-like dagger left Yami's body and flew towards the approaching vampire. The creature took a swing at it to deflect it away, but the weapon suddenly curved and struck the vampire's throat, killing it instantaneously.

Two other vampires began to slowly advance towards Yami, shields ready and weapons drawn. Another blade emitted from the tri-colored haired vampire's body and sped towards one of the approaching creatures. One of the vampires, seeing the blade was not directed towards him, took off in a full sprint towards his enemy; the other wielded his shield in front of him to take the blow.

The ethereal blade suddenly swerved to the side, only to swerve back between the vampire and his shield to slice the vampire's gullet in half. Meanwhile, the other vampire, seeing that he was close enough for combat, drew an iron-head spear and attempted to attack his opponent with it. Easily, Yami parried the thrusts and stabs with his hand, and quickly then wrested the weapon away from the creature, slaying him with it.

Immediately, the eight remaining jumped in a formation surrounding Yami, creating a perfect octagon around the crimson-eyed vampire; each pointed their weapon directly at him. Blood-red crimson eyes opened, and focused their direct attention onto the werewolf before him. For the first time since his transformation Yami spoke, "Otogi Ryuuji, as much as I would like to kill you, you are not my primary concern right now. I have more pressing matters to attend to." Momentarily he gave a brief thought of Yugi, and his condition.

"Kindly get out of my way or I will be forced to kill you."

A maniacal gleam suddenly erupted into the werewolf's eyes, and he let out a laugh. "Are you kidding me? You want me to back out of this fight? You shouldn't be so arrogant, not when you are facing Otogi Ryuuji. Also, I have both time and numbers on my side. I shouldn't be to one who is supposed to be afraid at this moment."

With his claws Ryuuji tore down an oak right next to him, and suddenly the tree burst into flame. Grasping the edge of the burning tree with his claws, he twirled the fiery object around dangerously about the air. "I wasn't kidding when I said I would kill both of you. I guarantee, before this hour is done, that both you and your little friend's blood will flow among the gravestones of this cemetery."

As usual, PLZ review. I don't know how much my writing skills have faded since the last chapter. And sorry for the very, very, very long update


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